Credit: Jamie Smed/FlickrCC
Sen. Sherrod Brown today said he’ll join West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin in introducing a bill that would prevent federal funding from going to the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada, unless the U.S. Soccer Federation agrees to equal pay for the women’s national team, which of course just won the freaking World Cup.

Mediation in the team’s lawsuit against the federation is expected to begin now that the World Cup is over.

“The clear unequitable pay between the U.S. men’s and women’s soccer teams is unacceptable and I’m glad the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team latest victory is causing public outcry,” Manchin said in a statement earlier this week. “They are the best in the world and deserve to be paid accordingly.”

While it’s unclear how much federal funding will be needed for the event, if any, many celebrated Manchin’s proposed bill as the groundswell toward equal pay for the women grows.


Also, if you haven’t watched already, enjoy Allie Long’s emphatic exclamation point on the World Cup and the lawsuit.

This article appears in Jul 10-16, 2019.

Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.

3 replies on “Sen. Sherrod Brown Supports Bill That Would Prevent Federal Funding for 2026 World Cup Unless Women’s Team Gets Equal Pay”

  1. #1 Sherrod is worthless.

    #2 Cut funding to all teams and make them get real jobs. Give them something real to piss and moan about. Ungrateful sots.

  2. This is an honest question that I do not know the answer to, and it is not intended to be snarky. I am certainly very much in favor of equal pay.

    Does the women’s soccer league generate enough income to be able to pay equal pay? We know part of it comes from the Feds, but what about the sponsorships like Nike? Does Nike pay the same to sponsor women as they do the men?

    If yes, then pay them right now, and fire the people responsible for not paying them fairly.

    If not, they are not entitled to equal pay, they are not generating enough income to justify it. Equal pay is dependent on equal performance.

    And if not, does this law put them out of business?

  3. ITS REAL SIMPLE MATH:

    The mens World Cup tournament generated over $6 billion in revenue for 2018. The women are estimated to have brought in $131 million in 2019.

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